an amazing trip...rescued turtles

I feel truly grateful that I was able to see and do so many things on this trip that others couldn’t ever dream of. My sister and I took a trip to The Turtle Hospital, in Marathon, Florida (the heart of the Florida Keys). We had been there before, but this trip was different. As with other trips, we listened to an educational presentation about sea turtles. Did you know that all six species of sea turtles are endangered? Can you believe that? The life of a sea turtle is usually tragic and lonely. I might be wrong on this statistic—but I think not—that only one in every 1,000 turtle hatchlings survives to its first birthday. Again, completely astonishing. We got the chance to see several of these species of sea turtles, including Loggerheads, Green, and Kemps-Ridley. Many turtles had been hit by boats and had damaged shells. A lot of these can be healed and released, but many have to live the remainder in their life in captivity. Some of the turtles we saw would eventually be released, but in the covered saltwater pool lived the turtles who would make The Turtle Hospital their home for the rest of their days. We saw a juvenile loggerhead turtle who had some type of neurological damage and seemed to keep swimming in circles. The most unfortunate patients can be those who develop fibropapilloma. These are pinkish, fleshy growths that often grow over so much of the turtle, especially its eyes, that it impairs their ability to survive. We actually got to see a surgery on Rosie the Loggerhead turtle. This was her second surgery to have the fibropapilloma tumors removed. The veterinarian uses a type of laser to remove the growths. These are benign growths, but they cause so many problems for these creatures that they need to be removed to ensure survival. Rosie would still have to have a third surgery to remove the last of the tumors. Only 10-20% of the tumors that are removed will grow back. Most remarkable about these surgeries is that the veterinarians who do these procedures are giving their time as volunteers. Here is a picture of Rosie the morning before the surgery and another picture of her during the surgery. The turtles are under anesthesia during the procedure, but they can only stay sedated for about 2 hours, which is in part what necessitates the multiple surgeries on some of these patients. I felt very lucky to be able to watch this procedure and know that I’m not the only one who feels so drawn to these modern dinosaurs. Thanks to The Turtle Hospital for their amazing work and to Rosie for letting us watch her surgery!

a small victory for a big creature

This past Wednesday, seemingly by an act of God, the Florida State Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission decided NOT to downlist the endangered manatee to threatened status. For once, it appears as though the voice of reason - and thousands of people - has won over the judgment of the powers-that-be in terms of manatee protection. Although the population numbers are up for manatees, even the governor of Florida felt that downlisting the manatee would be moving too quickly in a direction that couldn't do anything but harm the gentle creature. Their only natural predator is man. Yes, that's it folks, as usual. We can't respect the world we live in, the world we share with other creatures. Who cares if there are endangered species in the water, let's raise the boat speed limits just for pure, selfish fun. And if an innocent creature gets maimed or killed in the process? Well, they were in our way! The human race is pretty pathetic sometimes, especially with all of the situations I've seen with abuse of manatees and their habitat. So here's a case where the good guys really fought hard for the underdog, in this case the sea cow, and came out on top -- at least for the time being. This is only a postponement of the actual ruling on the downlisting, but the Commission has decided that they need to take time out to look at how they are classifying ALL endangered species in the state. Way to go! I'm keeping my toenailed-manatee flippers crossed, but not holding my breath...

~Citizen file photo obtained from KeysNews.com